The Magic Flute | A beginner’s guide to the opera

 

I didn’t have much exposure to high culture as a child, having grown up in a blue-collar family. La Choy canned Chinese food was considered exotic on our Texas Hill Country dinner table. Now a Chicago resident for almost 22 years, I’ve made a conscious decision to raise my kids in an urban environment, which I hope will give them a greater cultural awareness.

That said, the opera is a new thing for us. I’d only seen one production, the Lyric Opera’s 2008 staging of Madama Butterfly, at the behest of a much-older suitor who continually regaled me with tales of operagoing, as a teenager while backpacking in Europe in the late 1960s. At the time, it was something I did because I like dressing up and never needed an excuse to wear a fancy dress and a cloak. (The photo from that night is still my Facebook profile picture.) I didn’t much care for the show—out of ignorance, I’m sure—and thought that I’d put away my opera glasses forever.

But when I learned that The Magic Flute, billed as a family-friendly show, was on this year’s schedule at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, I figured it would be an easy sell to my 9- and 14-year-old sons. They had already been exposed to the art form in general and Mozart’s masterpiece in particular, through educational programs the Lyric offers in the city. I was largely correct, despite a few hiccups, and the experience allows me to offer a few tips for the uninitiated when it comes to operagoing with kids in tow.

Do your homework
Because operas are: (a) sung and (b) often in a foreign language, it’s helpful to know the story before you attend the production. There are a few ways you can do this. The “adult” method would be to order the libretto—the words of the opera—or to attend one of the many educational introductions to opera that the Lyric hosts at area libraries. Most kids, though, will likely respond better to a book that comes with a CD, or fiction that incorporates the opera’s story such as Moonlight on the Magic Flute in the Magic Treehouse series. You can also use websites like Wikipedia (disclosure: co-founder Jimmy Wales and I dated briefly years ago) to learn the story and tell it to your kids as a bedtime tale over a few nights leading up to the performance.

Dress the part
While traditional opera dress has been black tie (and still is for formal events, such as the Lyric’s Opening Night Gala), that rule has relaxed a bit over the years. It’s not unusual to see people in nice jeans and sweaters in the balconies. However, just because it’s allowed doesn’t mean you should follow that practice. Believe it or not, there are people who are uncomfortable with the idea of kids at the opera (which I’ll address here, too). One way to combat that mindset is to make sure your kids are as spic-’n-span as possible. I’m a frugal gal, so I went to a local thrift store and picked up dress shirts, ties, dress pants, shoes and socks for my boys for less than $20 total. They looked adorable, especially my older son, whose normal style is hipster-with-a-side-of-Justin-Bieber (the hair side). While the kids may grumble—mine did—dressy threads will help them fit in among seasoned vets.

Matinee or evening?
If you can attend a matinee performance, do it, and make sure your kids are well-rested. Flute is long for young attention spans—more than three hours, not including an intermission—and they will get tired. Mine fell asleep during the second act, after first asking me to wake them up if “anything cool” happened. If I had to do it over again, I would’ve insisted they take naps in advance of an 8pm performance, or maybe given them one of those Five Hour Energy shots (just kidding).

Settle in
Coat check is available for $1 per item—not a bad deal—but the house can get chilly. I suggest bringing coats and wrappings with you to your seats, plus the kids can use them as booster seats.

Lost in translation?
Unless you’re a family of polyglots, you and your kids won’t be able to understand the libretto as it’s being sung. The Lyric does offer scrolling English translations above the stage. For kids old enough to read quickly, these supertitles help, although they were often faster than I would have liked (and I’m an Evelyn Wood graduate). Those who can’t read yet, or read very quickly, might be left behind, another reason to teach them the opera’s story ahead of time.

Dealing with haters
There’s not much to say here that isn’t already common sense. But since the woman in front of my nine-year-old son turned around and hissed at him, it bears mentioning. I get it. Some people are nervous about being seated near a child at the theater, even if the show is billed as kid-friendly. The little girls in the row behind me spent much of the performance whispering with their mother to better understand the plot. Was it a bit distracting? You bet. But it was also endearing to hear children asking questions, rather than scoffing at the very idea of opera. So how did I deal with The Hissing Lady? I smiled politely, hugged my son and brushed it off by looking ahead at the stage. As in restaurants or airplanes, people who want to will move if there are other seats available, as was the case here.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy
After all that preparation, don’t forget to enjoy yourselves. Grab a bottle of water or two during intermission, or chat with your kids about the show thus far. The second act puts the magic in The Magic Flute: Lovers are united. The wicked are punished while the virtuous are rewarded. The colorful set comes to life in terrifically imaginative ways. My kids might’ve been asleep, but I became an opera fan. In the future, they’ll be stuck seeing the opera with me, just like I was stuck eating La Choy’s chop suey. Frankly, I think they’re getting the better deal.

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Want to experience the opera as a family? The Magic Flute continues through January 22 at the Civic Opera House (20 N Wacker Dr, 312-332-2244, lyricopera.org). Tickets are $54–$254 and available online.